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In the summer of 1993 Foreign Affairs
published an article entitled "The Clash of Civilizations?"
by Samuel Huntington. No article, according to the editors
of that distinguished journal, has generated more discussion
since George Kernan's "X" article on containment
in the 1940s. Now, Mr. Huntington expands on his article,
explores further the issues he raised then, and develops
many new penetrating and controversial analyses. In the
article, he posed the question whether conflicts between
civilizations would dominate the future of world politics.
In the book, he gives his answer, showing not only how clashes
between civilizations are the greatest threat to world peace
but also how an international order based on civilizations
is the best safeguard against war.
Events in the past few years have confirmed
Mr. Huntington's earlier judgments. Increasingly, people
define themselves on the basis of ancestry, language, religion,
and customs. Today, in the post-Cold War world, the critical
distinctions between people are not primarily ideological
or economic; they are cultural. World politics is being
reconfigured along cultural lines, with new patterns of
conflict and cooperation replacing those of the Cold War.
The hot spots in world politics are on the "fault lines"
between civilizations: witness the fighting in Bosnia, Chechnya,
the Transcaucasus, Central Asia, Kashmir, the Middle East,
Tibet, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and many other places.
Mr. Huntington explains how the population
explosion in Muslim countries and the economic rise of East
Asia are changing global politics. These developments challenge
Western dominance, promote opposition to supposedly "universal"
Western ideals, and intensify intercivilization conflict
over such issues as nuclear proliferation, immigration,
human rights, and democracy. The Muslim population surge
has led to many small wars throughout Eurasia, and the rise
of China could lead to a global war of civilizations. Mr.
Huntington sets forth a strategy for the West to preserve
its unique culture and emphasizes the need for people everywhere
to learn to coexist in a complex, multipolar, multicivilizational
world.
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking
of World Order is an insightful and powerful analysis of
the forces driving global politics today and into the next
century. It is sure to be one of the most talked about books
of the decade.
Samuel P. Huntington is Albert J. Weatherhead
III University Professor at Harvard University where he
is also director of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic
Studies and chairman of the Harvard Academy for International
and Area Studies. He was director of security planning for
the National Security Council in the Carter Administration,
founder and co-editor of Foreign Policy, and president
of the American Political Science Association. He is the
author of many books and scholarly articles.
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